Cell phone use may affect sperm quality

Does electromagnetic radiation emitted by cell phones affect sperm quality?

While various environmental and lifestyle factors have been proposed to explain the decline in sperm quality observed over the last fifty years, the role of cell phones remains to be demonstrated. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with the Swiss Institute of Tropical and Public Health (Swiss TPH), has published an important cross-sectional study on the subject. This shows that frequent cell phone use is associated with lower sperm concentration and total sperm count. However, researchers found no association between cell phone use and low sperm motility and morphology. Read the results in Fertility and sterility.

Sperm quality is determined by evaluating parameters such as sperm concentration, total sperm count, sperm motility and sperm morphology. According to values ​​established by the World Health Organization (WHO), a man will likely take more than a year to conceive a child if his sperm concentration is below 15 million per milliliter. In addition, the percentage chance of pregnancy decreases if the sperm concentration is less than 40 million per milliliter. Numerous studies have shown that sperm quality has declined over the past fifty years. Sperm counts reportedly dropped from an average of 99 million sperm per milliliter to 47 million per milliliter. This phenomenon would be the result of a combination of environmental factors (endocrine disruptors, pesticides, radiation) and lifestyle habits (diet, alcohol, stress, smoking).

Assessing the impact of mobile phones

Is the cell phone also to blame? After leading the first national study (2019) on the sperm quality of young men in Switzerland, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) published the largest cross-sectional study on this subject. It is based on data from 2,886 Swiss men aged 18 to 22, recruited between 2005 and 2018 in six military conscription centers.

In collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), scientists studied the association between the semen parameters of 2,886 men and their mobile phone use. “The men completed a detailed questionnaire covering their lifestyle habits, their general health and more particularly the frequency with which they used their phone, as well as where they placed it when they were not using it” , explains Serge Nef, full professor in the Department of Genetic Medicine and Development of the Faculty of Medicine of UNIGE and the SCAHT – Swiss Center for Applied Human Toxicology, who co-led the study.

These data revealed an association between frequent use and lower sperm concentration. The median sperm concentration was significantly higher in the group of men who did not use their phones more than once a week (56.5 million/mL) compared to men who used their phones more than 20 times a week. day (44.5 million/mL). This difference corresponds to a 21% decrease in sperm concentration for frequent users (>20 times/day) compared to rare users (<1 fois>

Is 4G less harmful than 2G?

This inverse association was found to be more pronounced during the first study period (2005–2007) and gradually decreased over time (2008–2011 and 2012–2018). “This trend corresponds to the transition from 2G to 3G, then from 3G to 4G, which led to a reduction in the transmission power of telephones,” explains Martin RÖÖsli, associate professor at Swiss TPH.

“Previous studies assessing the relationship between cell phone use and sperm quality have been carried out on relatively small numbers of individuals, rarely taking into account lifestyle information, and have been subject to bias. selection, because they were recruited from fertility clinics. This led to inconclusive results,” explains Rita Rahban, principal researcher and teaching assistant at the Department of Genetic Medicine and Development of the Faculty of Medicine of UNIGE and SCAHT, first author and co-leader of the study.

No matter where you place your phone

Analysis of the data also appeared to show that the position of the phone – for example in a trouser pocket – was not associated with lower semen parameters. “However, the number of people in this cohort indicating that they did not carry their phone near their body was too low to draw a truly robust conclusion on this specific point,” adds Rita Rahban.

This study, like most epidemiological studies investigating the effects of cell phone use on sperm quality, relied on self-reported data, which is a limitation. In doing so, the individual’s reported frequency of use was assumed to be an accurate estimate of exposure to electromagnetic radiation. To remedy this limitation, a study financed by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) was launched in 2023. Its objective is to directly and precisely measure exposure to electromagnetic waves as well as the types of use – calls , Internet browsing, sending messages – and assess their impact on male reproductive health and fertility potential. The data will be collected using an application that each future participant will download to their mobile phone. The research team is actively working recruitment participants in this study.

The objective is also to better describe the mechanism of action behind these observations.  »Do the microwaves emitted by cell phones have a direct or indirect effect? Do they cause a significant increase in temperature in the testicles? Do they affect the hormonal regulation of sperm production? All this remains to be discovered,” concludes Rita Rahban.

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